BiomedNews.org

Blood_Vessels (Photo credit: shoebappa)

The trouble with some of the miracles of science is that we discover some wonderful substance and start manipulating it in the belief we know what we’re doing, only to find out at some later date that the substance in question—in this case, nitric oxide—does not, in fact, perform its magic all by itself.

A recent study reports that hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which was thought to perform on its own certain functions similar to those of nitric oxide (NO), is actually a partner with NO in such actions as growing new blood vessels and relaxing existing ones. The authors of the study were Greek and American scientists, and the report is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S. HT = herbicide tolerance. BT = insect resistance. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The only conclusion I can reach is that these researchers were surprised by this discovery. Which makes me wonder. How can we use nanotechnology for a myriad of purposes and gaily go about genetically modifying foods and so on without having done enough safety studies? What surprise “partnerships” might we be missing/ignoring? And if we’re missing something, anything, what long-term effects will, for example, the genetically modified foods have on the nutrition—and therefore growth and health—of the animals and humans consuming them?

I served recently on a small panel of ordinary citizens being questioned by food industry representatives. The topic was attitudes about food safety and food labeling. What kind of labels did we think would make us feel confident about a food? I ask you: if you read “This is really good for you!” on a package, how much do you believe that? How often do you trust that “free range” really means the chickens didn’t spend most of their lives crammed together on top of each other in cages? And does “organic” broccoli mean they used compost from the kitchen in the dirt but still sprayed the hell out of it with pesticides? The truth is often a crapshoot

Some panelists thought they’d trust a source of foods–like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods–more than they’d trust the marketing language of the manufacturer. The assumption being that these large, consumer-friendly stores that talk big about wholesome and healthy have actually done some serious investigating before they decided to carry a certain brand.

When it comes to nanotech in medicine, I’m sure that if a medicine could be nano-power-injected in me that would save my life—even for a while—I’d say hurry up and shoot, man. But it’s a different story when we talk about using it to fight cancer in a small child where we don’t know what the long-term consequences may be of nanoparticles injected into the body.

No Luddites here. Thank God for every exciting step forward in science—and equal gratitude for those who urge balance and caution.

We eat radishes. "Radish Roll" (Photo credit: ulterior epicure)

It’s not good news, but it’s also not unexpected. Recent experiments with adding engineered nanoparticles to plants’ diets determined that the plants started gradually shriveling up and dying.

Specifically, the plants being experimented with were radishes and two ryegrass ground covers that grazing animals commonly eat.  Researchers at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) wanted to learn:

…whether nanosizing cupric oxide [a reactive chemical that removes electrons from other compounds] made the generation and accumulation of DNA lesions more or less likely in plants. If the former, the researchers also wanted to find out if nanosizing had any substantial effects on plant growth and health.

They found out. The radishes absorbed twice as much cupric oxide and developed twice as many DNA lesions when the mineral came in smaller nanoparticles versus those bigger than 100 nanometers. And the results on the radish seedlings were definitively destructive.

Although the DNA of the two ryegrasses was not as dramatically affected, in all three plant species, growth of both roots and shoots was significantly stunted. Next up for these researchers will be similar testing with “titanium dioxide nanoparticles — such as those used in many sunscreens — on rice plants.”

This report’s conclusions stick strictly to the science and don’t project anything about how the effects of this experiment might apply to human beings being injected or otherwise treated with medicines or protocols involving nano-sized particles. It’s reassuring, at least, to know that high-level researchers are working to test the safety of nanoparticles for living systems. Let’s hope this series of experiments is the first of many that will lead to new, strict standards for nano-sized development.

Day 46 - West Midlands Police - Cannabis Drugs Raid (Photo credit: West Midlands Police)

Some of the oldest medicinal herbs in the world are still being found effective for some treatments for human afflictions. A study in Switzerland, written up  in the April 11, 2012 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, says a marijuana-like substance works well with nitric oxide to both suppress inhibitors and stimulate activity of motor neurons in the spinal cord.

I’m tempted to conclude that this means something like having these endocannabinoids (a marijuana-like substance) inserted into the body’s neural networks—the authors don’t discuss whether smoking marijuana might produce the same effect—creates a partnership with nitric oxide that promotes nerve activity and could potentially lead to some degree of movement in at least some patients with spinal cord injuries.

But since the abstract doesn’t at any point translate its medical-speak into a recognizable potential benefit to human beings, I’m only guessing. It’s an exciting prospect even if I’ve got it only partially right.

As baby boomers age, people are also living longer. Naturally they hope to also have improved quality of life—without paying their entire retirement savings for it.

What if we could affordably regenerate blood vessels, bones, cartilage, and even organs? Stem cell research is doggedly pursuing these magical goals, and now nanotechnology is promising to team up to help direct those efforts.

According to a recent presentation at the American Chemical Society (ACS), scientists are beginning to understand biological pathways more deeply. And now nanotech chemistry is coming along to help them implement new ways of doing things. Experts are developing nanotechnology strategies to use “supramolecular self-assembly” to create noodle-like “nanoscale filaments, virus-like objects, or cell-like microcapsules” that can act as scaffolding for building regeneration processes.

The report goes on to say these noodle “gels” can be used with stem cell therapies to help treat spinal cord injury and Parkinson’s disease, to promote rapid growth of blood vessels for heart attacks or diseased arteries, and to facilitate regenerating bone and cartilage.

The patient’s right hip joint replaced by a metal head and a plastic cup. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As someone who’s looking at another hip replacement in the near future, this makes me want to say, “Hell, no,” and refuse to let them do the current barbaric procedure. This sawing-and-cutting-out-your-bones thing is so 18th century. Would I ask any questions about whether those nanoparticles could hurt me? Not at my age.

Wonder if I can hold out long enough for this promising tech to bear fruit?

The danger classification sign of radioactive materials (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When radioactive fallout was found to have contaminated some of Japan’s local food and drink after the 2011 tsunami battered a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, it inspired some scientists to look for ways to purify liquids. One researcher diverted his work on nanoparticles originally designed to “mine uranium from seawater or to decontaminate waterways.” He’s now adapting his work to make nanoparticles attach to a pellet that can decontaminate radioactive liquids.

The nanoparticles that coat the pellets are microscopic grains of materials called metal oxides. They absorb “a variety of radioactive materials such as uranium and strontium, as well as non-radioactive toxic elements such as lead and arsenic.” They attach tightly to the pellets and “will not detach into the liquid,” according to the researcher. Then the pellets are placed in a porous capsule and “would be too large to fall out.”

Sounds like a bug or animal trap that lets the creature in but won’t let it get out. Hmm. We’d have to place a great deal of trust in this invention to give our kids such “formerly” radioactive milk to drink. But then, that’s the kind of trust we put into a lot of what medicine prescribes (think: statins) and what manufacturers put in our homes or on our plates (think: GMO foods).

The technology has not yet gone commercial so you definitely won’t see boxes of “anti-radiation” pills in your local drug store any time soon. It’s a great idea, but let’s pray it will end up like the famed *backyard atomic bomb shelters of the 1950s–we don’t ever find out how well it works because we never have to use it.

* For those of you too young to remember, after the first atomic bombs were dropped on Japan to end WWII, the U.S. government had schools conducting air-raid drills in which kids hid under their desks and had citizens learning how to dig bomb shelters in their backyards.

Like a grade school desk or a foot of dirt would protect you from an atom bomb…

Embryonic Stem Cells. (A) shows hESCs. (B) shows neurons derived from hESCs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those on both sides of the fence hotly debate the advisability of legalizing the sale of donor organs. Meanwhile, a couple of exciting new developments in using stem cells in transplantation caught my eye recently—using stem cells to protect against organ rejection and a new way to study how they work once they’re put into the organ recipient’s body.

Cut down on immunosuppressants

A small new study suggests that some kidney transplant patients who receive bioengineered stem cells from their donors may not need anti-rejection drugs long term. Five of eight patients who received the stem cells in addition to the organ were able to stop taking immunosuppressants after one year, according to Science Translational Medicine. If they can replicate this in a bigger study, it could mean reducing fewer drugs for transplant patients and being able to use more donor organs for transplants. There are typically around 47,000 people a year waiting for a kidney and that wait can currently take years.

Learn how stem cells work for transplants

Looking into the process of using them, NIH researchers have developed a way to monitor how stem cells function once transplanted. The method uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and consists of two FDA-approved drugs that can attach to cells and a third that is detectable by MRI. The technique is being tested in brain tumor patients who receive transplants of engineered neural stem cells, according to Molecular Imaging. The technique will help doctors understand how many of the cells they transplant actually reach the target organ, and so help them regulate how they administer the cells, plus how to adjust doses and timing.

Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to resort to selling organs—which would likely turn out to produce another crop of heart-wrenching episodes of Law & Order (the original)?

You’ve heard of hybrid cars, which combine power sources—gasoline and an on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS). Now there’s a hybrid aspirin that combines acetylsalicylic acid, nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). They call it the “NOSH aspirin,” and they’re saying it can stop cancer cells from growing.

Image via Wikipedia

Cancer-fighting properties of the new hybrid aspirin are reported in the ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. The same scientists had already developed a safer-on-the-stomach aspirin that used nitric oxide.

By adding hydrogen sulfide with its anti-inflammatory properties, the hope was that the aspirin would reduce the long-term inflammation that is thought to lead to abnormal cell growth and thereby contribute to a variety of cancers. Such long-term inflammation might come from infections or diseases such as HPV (can lead to cervical cancer) and hepatitis B (a precursor to liver cancer).

NO is important for a great many functions “in the gastrointestinal tract, including mucosal blood flow, maintenance of mucosal integrity, and maintenance of vascular tone,” according to the National Institutes of Health,

Scientists have for years been studying the role of hydrogen sulfide in the development of cancer prevention drugs. When they noted that cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, watercress and Brussels sprouts naturally protect against stomach and colon cancers, they decided to mix

NO and H2S in the hope of coming up with dual benefits. Voila, the NOSH aspirin.

Laboratory tests on animals show the aspirin inhibits growth of breast, colon, pancreas, lung, prostate and some types of leukemia cancer cells without damaging normal cells. NOSH preparations were recorded as being 100,000 times more effective against cancer than regular aspirin.

Other studies have shown even regular aspirin offers a significant reduction of chances of hereditary cancers. But regular intake of aspirin carries a risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and in somecases Reye’s syndrome.

So it will probably come soon. Clinical trials will see whether the cost-benefit ratio of using NOSH aspirin for cancer prevention gets up to where it needs to be for human consumption.

Image via Wikipedia

Parkinson’s is one of those diseases that must be studied in human neurons because animal models that don’t have the parkin gene never develop the disease so they can’t be used. And of course we can’t just cut into people’s brains for scientific purposes.

Now, scientists have developed a way to grow donated human skin cells into brain cells that can show the parkin gene at work. This work may lead to being able to reverse this type (genetic mutation) of Parkinson’s, a type found in about one of every ten Parkinson’s patients.

The article doesn’t say, but I’m guessing this type of discovery has arisen directly out of stem cell research. One more utterly compelling reason to continue funding that work.

Image via Wikipedia

Reports are all over the Internet about a recent study using nanoparticles as additions to vaccines that target lymph nodes. The study has found that, at least in mice, these nano-loaded treatments can boost antibody- and immune responses against lethal infections. The Duke University team that did the study says their loaded nanoparticles closely mimic the structure and actions of mast cells—those little guys that naturally help us fight infection. They say the fact that they can load the particles with different combinations of cytokines means they can steer the direction of the immune response.

Sounds very promising indeed. My first thought was, this is in mice. How well does mouse research translate into human treatments? First, I learned that the mouse has 99% of the same genes as we humans. Then, too, scientists already have a huge selection of sophisticated tools  for working with mice. Plus, the mouse’s tiny size makes it affordable for large studies.

Then I learned that lots of research studies conducted with mice have not translated at all well to humans. A global cross-discipline (academia, industry, clinical) group convened last year to discuss the whole mouse-as-model issue and came to some conclusions. The most significant of these, for our purposes here, seems to be that mice studies have been successfully translated mostly to validate drug targets and to determine safe and effective doses of combination treatments in humans. Read the entire (slightly windblown) mouse model conference report here.

Another example of successfully using nanoparticles as targeted carriers is in treating prostate cancer in mice. Tumors

shrank significantly, and treated mice survived much longer than untreated, and longer, too, than even those treated with the same drug but not delivered with the targeted nano carrier. And in this study they aimed to have the targeted drugs bypass both healthy tissue and the immune system. It’s wonderful that such precision is possible.

But meanwhile, because I regularly research information about the very long time—often decades—it takes for asbestos exposure to show up as deadly disease in human beings, I continue to worry about the long-term effects of manufactured nanoparticles being injected into living creatures. I sincerely hope scientists are planning long-term followup studies of mice treated with nanoparticle-boosted drugs and vaccines. Before we head towards human clinical studies, let’s make sure the mice didn’t get saved to live another day and then die of complications from having nanomaterials delivered directly into their bodies.

Image by pixieclipx via Flickr

Dogs can smell seizures, low blood sugar and heart attacks, and doctors are working to see if they can be trained to detect other diseases such as cancer. A recent study suggests we humans may soon begin to emulate their powerful scenting abilities—with technology, of course.

New hope for early diagnosis comes from an electronic nose, a version of which is already in use in the food, wine and perfume industries. It generates a pattern, or “smell print”, in response to a given odor, then researchers analyze and compare that pattern with stored patterns. They’ve developed one that can tell from a person’s exhaled breath if that person has pneumonia. Now they’re studying the e-nose in the hope they can one day make it detect ashtma and some versions of lung cancer. A test of an e-nose has already been done to detect malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare but aggressive form of lung cancer.

Image by I X Key via Flickr

So that’s how they can keep producing winning smells in food, wine and perfume! And here I thought it was magic—the way I used to think that music composition was the most wonderfully mysterious art of all, because I had no idea how they did it until I studied music. I remember the article in Time magazine a few decades ago that contained a dozen gorgeous abstract paintings—and explained that they’d been generated by numerical equations plugged into a computer.  It blew my mind to realize that math and art were not only not radically different but were merely two different ways of looking at the same thing.

Even as we begin to discover more and more ways to heal the human body using the gentle tools of the universe such as stem cells, rather than violating the body with cutting, assaulting tools such as surgery and chemotherapy, we can take comfort, too, in the idea that many of the mysteries of the earth might one day be translatable to and from mathematical equations.